If the kid characters of this show are the main focus in an
episode, chances are it’s going to turn out basic in setup. In other words, all we’ll see is them doing a kid-friendly activity without anything noteworthy to the story. However, if the writing is done well enough,
it can still be entertaining, and for the most part, that’s what happens
here. It’s about Huey, Dewey, Louie, and
Webby going fishing, but Scrooge is too busy with setting up an important
combination for a lock to his money bin to come along.
While some would expect the plot to drift into Scrooge needing to let go
of his worries and spend time with the kids, what follows is a more mature and
thoughtful plot of the kids deciding to get Scrooge a pet so that he won’t
worry about his money so much. However,
as the episode will further show, even the most thoughtful acts can backfire
spectacularly. A sea captain offers the
kids a lemming named Lucky who has an incurable appetite,
particularly for cheese. Unfortunately
for Scrooge, it doesn’t stop there as Lucky steals a locket containing his
bin’s new combination which he hasn’t memorized yet. The rest of the episode goes on to make the
most of its basic setup when the kids join Scrooge and Launchpad on a chase
after Lucky to get the locket back which does make for some mild entertainment
and humor. The chase leads them all the
way to the country of Novay in Scandinavia where Lucky does nothing but cause
trouble for everyone trying to catch him on his boat, and later floating inland
in Scrooge’s hat. Funny as many moments
in the chase may be, at times, it kind of feels like he wants to make life
difficult for Scrooge and the gang even though they did absolutely nothing to
deserve it. We do ultimately get to a
climax where they have to find Lucky in a flood of lemmings racing
through Novay on their way to swim out to sea as they do every year while
everyone runs for cover. It looks
like an exciting scene with a lot of fast movement and tension from the lemming
stampede, but it doesn’t really feel exciting since the music doesn’t match the
tension and speed most of the time, and the group’s many attempts to stop them
take their time to happen. While not a
particularly exciting climax though, when it seems like the lemmings have finally
made it to the sea, it’s easy to feel for Scrooge since it seems like he can
never get to his fortune now. Then
again, he could just dismantle the combination lock and re-install it when he’s
ready. However, that issue doesn’t last
for long when it turns out that one of the attempts to catch Lucky did work
after all in the form of a cheese wheel.
As a result, the episode ends as basic as it started with Scrooge easily
getting his combination back as well as a much less mischievous pet, nothing
more nothing less. Basic as the story
mostly is, bits of comedy, heart, and action which, while not always effective,
have noticeable effort and make the episode pretty good as it is. 8/10
The Ranking:
1. The
Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 5: Too Much of a Gold Thing
2. Back to the
Klondike
3. The
Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 2: Wronguay in Ronguay
4. The
Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 4: Cold Duck
5. The
Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 1: Don’t Give up the Ship
6. The
Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 3: Three Ducks of the Condor
7. Scrooge’s
Pet
8. Horse
Scents
Well,
that’s it for the first disc. Next time we'll start
the second disc, with the first part of another story arc, "Catch as Cash Can" called "A Drain on the Economy".
If you would like to check out other DuckTales reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
No comments:
Post a Comment